Veteran trades weapon for pen

Veteran trades weapon for pen
By Andrea Keating and Abigail Donaldson

Contributing Writer and Copy Editor

Published: Sunday, June 5, 2011

While stationed in Kuwait and Iraq as a U.S. Marine Corps police officer, Alejandro Mujica used a rifle to protect and serve. Now, the UCF graduate student has armed himself with something different — a pen.

Mujica, who spent four years in the military police, felt displaced upon returning home from duty. During this period of transition, one where he returned to the civilian world, he discovered the power of reading, the serenity of meditation and the art of journaling.

Now, Mujica, a graduate student at UCF majoring in creative writing, has been approved by the Veterans Academic Resource Center to begin a writing group for veterans.

The goal of the writing group is to allow veterans to discover new skills and possibly aid with post-traumatic stress disorder.

After returning home from duty, Mujica decided to take advantage of the resources that were available at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

According to the VA's website, the veteran population in Florida is 1,650,900. Nationwide, one in eight military personnel returning from the battlefield suffers from some form of PTSD.

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Veteran trades weapon for pen